Author: Chavushian

GUDRAT HASANGULIYEV: "AZAL BLOCKADES NAKHCHIVAN FROM AIR"

APA
Nov 11 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Elbrus Seyfullayev – APA. Azerbaijani parliament continues
discussion on state budget bill for 2010 and lawmakers make their
proposals, APA reports. MP Igbal Aghazadeh said the budget bill was
rated at the political processes, but not economic development.

MP Ali Ahmadov mentioned the global financial crisis’ impact on
Azerbaijan’s economy and said it din not cause unemployment in
Azerbaijan. The lawmaker said the budget bill created basis for
socio-economic development. He proposed to elaborate program for use
of potential of the people educated abroad. He also proposed to give
more attention to fate of children living in orphanages and to build
small town to solve housing problem when they grow up.

MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev said if the world processes were analyzed,
it would become clear that the government had no correct attitude
to the budget. "The budget expenditure shouldn’t be reduced, but
part of Azerbaijan’s resources in foreign banks should be brought to
the country". The lawmaker said 44 million AZN of budget resources
were not enough for the development of ownership and generally
it was cowardly budget bill. He also proposed to increase defense
expenditures. Hasanguliyev said airports constructed in Zagatala
and Lankaran didn’t operate and were closed now. He said not the
government, but owners should fund the construction of diagnostic
centers, Olympic complexes and other buildings. It would be more
useful".

Hasanguliyev criticized Azerbaijan Air Lines president Jahangir
Asgarov’s activity. "Armenians blockade Nakhchivan on ground, but
AZAL from air", said the lawmaker. He protested raise of air ticket
price and reducing of flights to Nakhchivan. "Why Jahangir Asgarov has
personal plane? Who is he? He is not the President, Prime Minister or
Speaker. Why he doesn’t fly with common flights? Resources spent to
his personal plane can be used for solution of problem in Nakhchivan".

Lawmaker Fazail Ibrahimli talked about the problems in Jalilabad
region. He asked to take urgent measures to solve this situation.

The discussions are continued.

WILL ARMENIA’S PYUNIK AND AZERBAIJAN’S BAKU MEET AT CIS/BALTIC STATES CHAMPIONS CUP?

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.11.2009 12:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri media circulated information that Azerbaijan’s
FC Baku may rival Armenia’s FC Pyunik at the CIS/Baltic States
Champions Cup.

"Pyunik’s participation in the tournament will be decided
within several days," spokesman for Pyunik, Vahan Danielyan told
PanARMENIAN.Net.

Meanwhile, spokesman for FC Mika, Ashot Martirosyan said that the
club, as silver winner of the Armenian championship 2009, will send
an application in case Pyunik rejects invitation.

"THE PUBLIC EDUCATION’S ACHILLES’ HEEL IS THE TEXTBOOKS’ QUALITY"

Aysor
Nov 10 2009
Armenia

"The Achilles’ heel of the public education is the quality of the
textbooks. The problems are hereditary and can’t b e solved in a
moment. The textbook writing is a continuous action and I have come
across with the textbook quality years before", – Armen Ashotyan the
RA Minister of Science and Education said.

He mentioned that it is hard to have high quality textbooks as we do
not have a formed culture of textbook writing. On the other hand, A.

Ashotyan mentioned that we are a very small country where there are
protection mechanisms for choosing the textbooks, there is no strong
publishing house and that is the most essential the mechanisms of
choosing the books are imperfect.

"We have got a few innovations. We have got 11 announced competitions
for the textbooks and have separated the professorial and pedagogic
commissions. There will be to commissions separated one from another.

The payment will be done only in case of the textbooks being ready
for 100 percents. Only after the corrections the textbook will be
financed for the publication", – announced Armen Ashotyan.

The Minister added that this period should be passed over as the
number of textbook writers is little. Usually one or two books are
presented and the Ministry faces the problem of having a bad textbook
or not having at all: "I would prefer the students for the next year
to study by the old books than to make them study by bad textbooks."

SAAKASHVILI HANDS HIS OFFICE OVER TO A HOLLYWOOD STAR
Gita Elibekyan

"Radiolur"
09.11.2009 17:30
Tbilisi

The Georgian opposition criticizes the authorities for "ordering a
Hollywood film about the Russian-Georgian war." The opposition says
the film has been produced by President Mikhail Saakashvili and
immense sums have been allocated from the state budget.

The authorities insist they have nothing to do with the idea of the
film. Authors of the film say it’s not a propaganda movie.

Whole Georgia and especially the Parliament and the President’s Office
had been turned into a shooting area over the past few days. For a
few hours Mikhail Saakashvili handed his office over to Hollywood star
Andy Garcia, who plays the part of the Georgian President in the film.

The main episodes of the movie have alreeady been shot. The film’s plot
revolves around an American TV reporter and cameraman who are caught in
the thick of the conflict and are forced to make tough ethical choices.

Director of the film Renny Harlin, best known for "Die Hard 2" and
"Cliffhanger," has said the tale of a journalist and cameraman caught
up in the fighting is an impartial indictment of war.

"We still have to realize one thing. War still continues in different
parts of the world – Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc. I want to make a
film that says something about the human condition, and even if only
a few people see this and feel its impact and its anti-war message,
then I will have done something that’s important and I will be proud
of it," Harlin said.

The film telling about the short Russian-Georgian war will be
presented to viewers in spring. Producers say it will be presented
at the Cannes Festival.

news.am, Armenia
Nov 7 2009

Semneby’s response to NEWS.am article

16:44 / 11/07/2009The office of EU Special Representative for the
South Caucasus Peter Semneby responded to the Nov. 3 NEWS.am article
on the statements by the European politician in the interview with
Russian paper `Vremya Novostei’. Mr. Semneby told journalists, that
`As regards the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides’ readiness for
concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Semneby pointed out
that the Madrid Principles, which became known after the G8 meeting,
contain rather clear definitions,’ NEWS.am article reads.

At that, EU Special Representative underlined that `the most serious
problems are in details, but general principles for both the sides to
make concessions are clear. The most complicated issues, namely the
ones related to Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, are postponed for an
indefinite period.’

Commenting on the critics voiced by RA Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharyan as well as in the article by political expert Ivan
Gharibyan, Mr. Semneby’s Political Advisor Andrei Didenko says,
`News.am carried an unsigned article on 3 November, which
misinterpreted and criticized me for statements I made in an interview
to the Russian newspaper Vremya Novostei on 2 November. I would like
to make the following clarifications.

My statement on the determination of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
reflects the statement of Presidents Obama, Medvedev, and Sarkozy at
the G20 summit in Italy on 10 July 2009. This document states that the
Basic Principles call for future determination of the final legal
status of Nagorno-Karabakh through a legally binding expression of
will.

In the Vremya Novostei interview, the reporter asked a deliberately
provocative question asserting, inter alia, that the result of the
vote may be negative for Armenia. The written text could give the
impression that I share all assumptions of the journalist, which is
not the case. I merely acknowledged that this is a difficult issue for
Yerevan.’

The message was signed `Peter Semneby, The EU Special Representative
for South Caucasus’.

Although the letter was sent by Andrei Didenko, it spoke on behalf of
Mr. Semneby. We would like to let the European Diplomat know that Mr.
Ivan Gharbyan is the author of the article which says his name in the
original text (in Russian).

It is apparent that neither the author, nor the Agency knew of the
`provocative’ nature of the Vremya Novostei reporter’s question (also
even post factum there seems to be nothing provocative), and published
the article based on the context of Mr. Semneby’s replies solely.

For some reason the EU diplomat reckons that it is easier for Yerevan
to make concessions, than for Baku. Meanwhile he concealed of
Azerbaijan’s unacceptability to escalate warlike rhetoric in the
current situation. This rhetoric in the strained situation sounds more
provocative, than the reporter’s questions. Referring to the
statements by Russian, U.S., and French Presidents, Peter Semneby
fails to mention that Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy insist that the
conflict should be resolved peacefully observing all norms of the
international law ` including the one on nations’ right for
self-determination. And intentionally protract or accelerate the day
of this right’s triumph ` is a blemish job, as Karabakhi people
already exercised their right in the course of the war forced upon
them and without accounting for the opinion of various European and
other officials.

ANKARA WILL NEVER AGREE TO DETERIORATION OF RELATIONS WITH THE U.S. BECAUSE OF AZERBAIJAN
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.11.2009 GMT+04:00

Over the past few days the Turkish press has stopped writing about its
"brotherly" neighbour. Moreover, there appear articles about the myth
of "one nation, two states".

The level of nervousness in Baku after the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols has reached its highest. The
authorities apparently realized that, despite the assurances of
"brotherly" Turkey, no parallel processes will go with the Karabakh
conflict settlement. Though immediately after the signing of the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols in Zurich, the rhetoric of high-ranking
Turkish officials significantly intensified with regards to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, it didn’t last long and it had its reasons.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ankara will never agree to deterioration of relations
with the U.S. or any other party concerned about a peaceful resolution
of the conflict. Moreover, if we believe certain media reports – and
sometimes they really should be believed – Washington actually issued
a tough ultimatum to Azerbaijan: she made it clear that "Karabakh
independence will be recognized, should Azerbaijan attempt to launch
military operations in NKR," Yeni Musavat Oppositional Azeri Party
official website reported on Tuesday, followed by other Azeri media
representatives.

In observer’s opinion, Baku’s military rhetoric is caused by the fact
that in the agenda of Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations on Karabakh
status, mediated by Russia, US and France, Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity is not discussed, as required by the country’s President
Ilham Aliyev, NEWSru.com reports.

However, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov
said he knew nothing about Washington’s ultimatum. "Azerbaijan is
not a country to be spoken with in the language of ultimatum," he
said. "We are conducting an independent foreign policy based on our
national interests," Polukhov added.

How independent a foreign policy the South Caucasus countries can
have, is probably not worth mentioning. But Baku so deeply believes in
her own power and energy, that she does not see what is obvious. And
the obvious fact is that over the past few days, the Turkish press
has stopped writing about its "brotherly" neighbour. Moreover, there
appear articles about the myth of "one nation, two states". Speaking at
the rally of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Prime Minister
Erdogan spoke about everything: the Kurdish problem, cooperation with
Iran on regional projects and Turkey’s EU membership.

However, he said not a single word about Karabakh, and it is
symptomatic.

It so happened that these days, Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu
participates in the ministerial D-8 Summit in Kuala Lumpur. D-8 is an
analogue of the G8 for the countries of Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC), in which Azerbaijan has no place. Only Bangladesh,
Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are
members of this association, i.e. countries for which the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict is neither necessary nor important. By the way,
the countries of OIC, which so recently were spoken about with great
enthusiasm in Baku, have quite a different from Azerbaijan position on
Nagorno-Karabakh. For example, Iran and Syria, and sometimes Egypt, if
we use the lexicon of official Baku, take up a pro-Armenian position,
while others simply do not make public their position, reasoning from
their own interests and not out of their great love towards Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, The Jamestown Foundation writes: "Traditionally an ally,
brother and last resort of hope, Turkey is no longer trusted in the
Azerbaijani capital. In an effort to gain an additional friendly
neighbor, Ankara seems to have overstretched and nearly ruined
its strategic relations with Azerbaijan. It is clear that the
recent developments in the South Caucasus and the Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement have seriously damaged the Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic
partnership. This partnership has been the backbone of East-West energy
and its future transportation corridors, security, political and
geo-strategic balance in the region, as well as the overall Turkish
(or Western) entrance into the Caspian region," says the author,
who, of course, doesn’t like the fact that Turkey has decided to
"free herself" from Baku.

And lastly, US International Republican Institute (IRI) office ends
its activity in Azerbaijan. Head of IRI office Jake Johns declared the
office would be closed on November 30 of the current year. Chairman
of Musavat party Isa Gambar, expressing his regret over the issue,
considered it expedient to continue the work of the office in terms of
strengthening relations between the U.S. and Azerbaijan, and solving
problems associated with democracy and freedom. But the U.S. had
different views…

PRESIDENT OF ARMENIA: CENTURY LONG ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN FRIENDSHIP MAKES US TO DEEPEN OUR RELATIONS

Arminfo
2009-11-06 16:20:00

ArmInfo. Today Georgia’s Ambassador to Armenia Grigol Tabatadze
delivered his credentials to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

As press-service of the president reported, Serzh Sargsyan said
at the meeting that the century long Armenian-Georgian friendship
makes these two peoples to deepen their relations. For his part, the
ambassador emphasized that President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili
thinks development of friendly relations with Armenia is very much
important, as they have no alternative. Tabatadze also added that
political leadership of his country highly appreciates the foreign
political course of the president of Armenia. They touched on the
problems of the Armenian-Georgian relations on the agenda and the
activity of the inter-governmental commission.

Armenian Genocide Museum of America
1334 G Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005

PRESS RELEASE
November 5, 2009

Contact: Press Office
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 383-9009

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM BENEFITS FROM DAY OF SERVICE BY WASHINGTON
ORGANIZATIONS LED BY BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA

Sigma Chi Fraternity, Knights of Vartan, ACYOA, ARAMAC, Armenian
Network, and Armenian Assembly Volunteers Join Community-Wide Effort

Washington, DC – Volunteers from across the Washington, DC area joined
the Boy Scouts of America for a day of community service at the Armenian
Genocide Museum of America (AGMA), Saturday, October 31.

Supporting the Boy Scouts of America Troop 50 from Annandale, Virginia,
volunteers from Knights of Vartan – Ani Lodge, Armenian Christian Youth
Organization of America (ACYOA) from St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic
Church in Washington, DC, Armenian-American Action Committee (ARAMAC) DC
Youth, Armenian Network of America, Sigma Chi Fraternity at George
Washington University, and Armenian Assembly of America staff and
friends joined in a full day of service at the future site of the
museum.

"For many years virtually no attention was paid to the National Bank of
Washington (NBW) building, which will house AGMA. Designated on the
National Register of Historic Buildings, the site had been allowed to
deteriorate," said museum trustee and chairman of its building and
operations committee Van Z. Krikorian. "Under new management, the
museum’s architectural plans were given approval by the District of
Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board, and aspects of the historic
building that will be renovated and those that do not require
preservation were clarified. Therefore, we especially appreciated not
only the help but also the constructive spirit of the local community to
bring the museum project another step closer to realization. Plans for
similar efforts are under way, and we thank all those individuals and
organizations that participated and supported the Halloween cleanup."

"When the Boy Scouts proposed a day of service at AGMA," added AGMA
Director Dr. Rouben Adalian, "we welcomed the opportunity to take
another step toward ensuring the preservation of the historic aspects of
the bank building by removing many of the later additions that obscured
the authentic and original architecture of the interior space. With the
enthusiasm the Boy Scouts generated in the community and the strong
support of over 50 volunteers, we were able to implement a thorough
improvement of the site. The results speak for themselves. An open
interior space brightened with the filter of natural light has given
everyone who participated a sense of the wonderful qualities of the
exhibit spaces available in the bank building."

"I want to thank everyone who participated," continued Adalian, "with
special appreciation for the Boy Scouts who took a leadership role in
organizing the event. Aram Tramblian who heads Troop 50 is an
exceptional young man whose commitment to the purpose of the museum
energized an entire community and persuaded so many volunteers to join
his effort. I also want to thank Annie Totah and Peter Vosbikian,
trustees of the Armenian Assembly of America, who provided the support
and donated the supplies that made the day of service possible."

Joining the volunteers was also Dr. Harutyun Marutyan, from the National
Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, who is currently a
fellow at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the first scholar from Armenia doing
research at USHMM. "I wanted to contribute my share toward the
emergence of this important institution," said Marutyan.

As plans progress for the development of the Armenian Genocide exhibits,
AGMA also anticipates opening the site to future events to provide the
local community access to the historic building whose amazing
architectural features are all the more visible now thanks to all the
volunteers who turned out to extend their support to help preserve the
building and prepare the way for the future museum.

The Armenian Genocide Museum of America is an outgrowth of the Armenian
Assembly of America and the Armenian National Institute (ANI), catalyzed
by the initial pledge of Anoush Mathevosian toward building such a
museum in Washington, DC.

NKR MFA: BERLINER ZEITUNG PRESENTED DISTORTED INFORMATION ON KARABAKH

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.11.2009 13:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Having personally visited the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic, Berliner Zeitung newspaper’s correspondent, if even
desired, couldn’t but notice that the people who had experienced
terrible hardships, destructions, and grief in an unequal struggle
had, however, managed to realize its right to self-determination,
heroically stand all the calamities of the war, restore its state
infrastructure, and implement radical reforms for establishing a
state corresponding to the European standards," the open letter to
Berliner Zeitung newspaper Editor-in-Chief said.

"After the World War II, the Germans dreamed for an integrated state
and lived with this idea tens of years. We don’t think that the German
nation’s aspiration can be questioned by any other nation.

Exactly 20 years ago, the Berlin wall was destroyed in just a few days
by the will of the great powers, and the Germans not only reunited,
but also gained full-fledged independence, on the occasion of which
we congratulate this distinctive and gifted nation of the Old World.

Nagorno Karabakh gained its independence, having, first of all,
neutralized the Azerbaijani aggression, defending the lives of
children, women, and old people. Just that’s why nobody can question
the will and right of Nagorno Karabakh’s people to independence. In
other words, nobody brought the independence and right to free life to
Nagorno Karabakh on a tray. And if today’s population of our Republic
makes only 140 thousand, then it is also a vivid demonstration of
Azerbaijan’s evident anti-Armenian policy; otherwise, over a million
and a half of Karabakhi Armenians and their descendants would not be
citizens of other states today. So, like Germans in the recent past,
today we are also striving for our sovereignty.

The Germans have, for many years, cherished as relics the stones
and fragments of the once separating Berlin Wall. The situation is
totally different in Nagorno Karabakh. Here, the shrines are the
marble tombstones of soldiers perished at the Karabakh War for the
independence of their homeland. The correspondent of your newspaper
could not but notice that.

Unfortunately, we should state that having overcome thousand
kilometers, journalist Tobias Asmuth presented a superficial and
distorted article to the readers of the newspaper, without inquiring
the causes and essence of the Karabakh issue. Similarly, the author
could easily write a number of analogous articles, staying at home
and using various sites.

However, if freedom of speech and press is equivalent to a sin against
truth for the Berliner Zeitung, then it is quite a different matter,"
NKR MFA letter emphasized.

AN EAR TO ISRAEL IN AZERBAIJAN
By Karin Kloosterman

Israel 21C
ent&view=article&id=7281:an-ear-to-israel- in-azerbaijan&catid=61:social-action&Itemi d=140
Nov 4 2009

Israeli Anat Kochva, from the Hedim Institute, helping the hard of
hearing on a special mission to Azerbaijan.A team of Israeli speech
and hearing specialists is restoring the hearing of adults and kids
in predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan, far from the ears of the media.

Outside the audible range of the international media’s "ears" positive
stories are brewing between the Jewish State of Israel and nearby
Muslim countries. It’s time to turn up the volume. The latest project
takes place in Azerbaijan, where a team of Israeli specialists has
been restoring the hearing of Azerbaijani adults and children.

At the end of August, Anat Kochva and four speech and hearing
specialists from the Hedim Institute that she founded in Israel,
headed to the capital city of Baku in Azerbaijan, a country that
shares a border with Iran to the south, and Armenia to the west.

They were allotted a few hospital rooms, and using whatever equipment
they had managed to carry with them, in a short period the Israelis
saw about 150 Azerbaijanis, many of whom had been told that they might
never hear again. The Israeli team fitted 70 people with hearing aids
and pledged to return to Baku with more equipment.

For the longer-term, Kochva tells ISRAEL21c, she hopes to see a
commitment on the part of the Azerbaijan government to create training
programs so that local qualified professionals will be able to diagnose
and treat their peoples’ hearing problems: "… since it appears that
they have no plans for training programs [on how to identify hearing
problems] in small babies and children, we will come and help them
to plan an educational training system," she promises.

But Kochva doesn’t want just to provide handouts. She’s hoping
for a willing partner she can trust. "If you change programs [in
the government] you must put some efforts into local training and
education," she stresses.

Hearing their cries

In and around Baku, "We saw a very low level of knowledge of treating
problems in our field and we could only bless what we have in Israel
compared to what they have in Azerbaijan," Kochva recounts. This
applies to both services and treatment facilities for children,
and the overall approach to hearing problems, she adds.

When a problem is identified at a young age, "They isolate
children in closed schools and they don’t try to mix them with the
hearing population. And the level of services there, like hearing
rehabilitation and diagnostics at an early age, providing hearing aids
and all that is involved, including rehab, is so low. In the 35 years
I’ve been working in this field, I have never seen such low levels
[of care]," she laments.

Among those treated by her team was 16-year-old Ahmadli Nijad, deaf
since birth. Nijad was born with severe hearing problems that worsened
as he grew older. Local doctors told his family that he would never
hear, but the Israeli group proved Nijad’s doctors wrong by fitting
him with a hearing aid device that works.

The idea of helping Azerbaijanis to hear was first proposed by Nati
Marcus and the government of Israel. Marcus is an Israeli businessman
who for several years has been helping people to see in developing
countries by providing free eye operations through his non-government,
non-profit organization an "Eye From Zion."

Muslims who are happy to be helped by Jews

The fact that Islam is the dominant faith in Azerbaijan (the country
is about 95 percent Muslim), doesn’t seem to weigh heavily on those
coming to the Jewish Israelis for help, says Kochva. "Everybody was
very positive [about the visit] because they wanted the help from us,"
she says, noting that a number of the patients they treated spoke
about their relationships with Jews.

This was especially true of those who came from Kuba, a city once
known as the ‘Jerusalem of Kavkaz’ that still has a Jewish population
numbering a few thousand. Today, most of its Jews have immigrated to
Israel, but they still maintain contact with their families, Kochva
discovered: "I heard about people having good relationships with the
Jews. They showed us how they loved the Jewish community and we got
the feeling that there were no separate rules between the Muslims
and the Jews."

The journey to Azerbaijan was a joint mission that included
representatives from Magan David Adom, Israel’s version of the Red
Cross. Two Israelis from that organization came along to teach the
Azerbaijani version of the organization, the Red Crescent.

It was not the emergency team’s first meeting with the Azerbaijanis
and it took place following President Shimon Peres’ recent visit to
this secular country that has expressed an interest in improving its
relations with Israel. Working together on an emergency medical center
in a Muslim community is one of the new projects in the pipeline.

An ear to the ground

Thanks to the help of a number of Jewish organizations active in
Azerbaijan, the Israeli embassy and a local Muslim-run fund, the
hard-of-hearing Azerbaijanis were made aware of the visit of the
Israeli team.

Sadly, not everyone could be treated in the first round, since the
crew came equipped with only 70 devices, but they have promised to
return. "When we were finished there we promised to come back to
bring another 30," says Kochva, who is looking forward to an ongoing
relationship with the country, despite the significant out of pocket
costs that she incurred.

According to media reports, equipment worth NIS 200,000 (about $50,000)
was brought to Azerbaijan. And that doesn’t include the cost of
flights and staffing the trip.

Born in Poland, Kochva trained as both an audiologist and speech
therapist. Her institute, Hedim, the largest chain of hearing and
speech rehabilitation clinics in Israel has been operating since 1989,
offering professional services to people with hearing and speech
difficulties all across the country.

Kochva works with products bought from the small Canadian company
Unitron, based in Kitchener, Ontario. Through Israel’s Foreign Ministry
she invited a representative of the Canadian company to join the
Israeli delegation on their mission.

Meanwhile, Kochva has her ear to the ground as she awaits further
developments. In a country that is influenced by Islamic fundamentalism
from nearby Iran, her small project could have a huge impact on global
democracy: "We are in contact and the Israeli Embassy is working on
it," says Kochva. "We hope to continue. We don’t just want to come
and go, but to see what we can build there so it can be better."